Commuters leave the Metro-North train at the Danbury stop in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations deemed conducive to transit-oriented development. less

Commuters leave the Metro-North train at the Danbury stop in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have ... more

A view of the Danbury Metro-North train station from the Patriot Garage in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations deemed conducive to transit-oriented development. less

A view of the Danbury Metro-North train station from the Patriot Garage in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North ... more

The Metro-North train arrives at the Danbury station on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations deemed conducive to transit-oriented development. less

The Metro-North train arrives at the Danbury station on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations ... more

The Metro-North train arrives at the Danbury station on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations deemed conducive to transit-oriented development. less

The Metro-North train arrives at the Danbury station on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations ... more

Commuters board the Metro-North train at the Danbury stop in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations deemed conducive to transit-oriented development. less

Commuters board the Metro-North train at the Danbury stop in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have ... more

A view of the Danbury Metro-North train station from the Patriot Garage in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North stations have development regulations deemed conducive to transit-oriented development. less

A view of the Danbury Metro-North train station from the Patriot Garage in Danbury, Conn. on Friday, July 12, 2013. Regional Plan Association released a study showing only half the towns with Metro-North ... more

Slightly more than half of the 42 towns and cities along Metro-North's New Haven Line are set up to promote development that allows people to live and work near train stations, and reduce their dependence on cars, according to a new analysis by a regional planning group.

The other half of the towns and cities on the line and its branches need to modernize their zoning rules, most of which were established when cars and suburban sprawl were just emerging.

"Compact development close to transit stations fosters vibrant, successful communities," said Amanda Kennedy, the Connecticut director of the Regional Plan Association, who led the study over the past nine months.

"Companies in transit-friendly locations near housing and stores are able to attract more highly skilled employees, and both younger workers and retirees increasingly want to live close to businesses, transit and stores," Kennedy said.

The study analyzed zoning regulations and recent master planning processes to rate how towns and cities tailor their building rules to increase allowable density and reduce parking requirements, which can make or break a developer's desire to begin a project, Kennedy said.

The area within one-quarter mile of a train station or bus hub should be zoned for a mix of residential and commercial uses, the report, titled Halfway There, indicated.

Danbury, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Stamford are among the towns and cities that have recalibrated their zoning regulations and other rules around their train stations.

Danbury received a good grade for revamping its regulations to allow medium- to high-density residential and commercial development around the Danbury train station.

Wayne Shepperd, chief of staff for Mayor Mark Boughton and the city's former economic development director, said that in 2010 the city launched the Danbury Main Street Partnership to attract businesses to redevelop the downtown area. The group includes business owners and elected officials, and has worked together to adapt the city's zoning requirements to be more transit-friendly.

"We've set some new regulations to encourage businesses to come to the central core of the city," Shepherd said. "We have a lot of things in motion."

Among the changes made three years ago were loosened parking regulations within a downtown revitalization zone that cut the number of spaces needed for apartment units from 2 to 1.5 spaces. And businesses that move into the area can provide spaces for employees within existing parking inventories, including city-owned parking garages, rather than have to provide all their own parking within their development.

The allowable building heights were also increased in the area around the Danbury train station, which is part of the central business district zone, and the city's new regulations allows building heights of five to 10 stories in the central business district, and up to 10 units per acre for new residential developments.

Also, building permit application fees were reduced, and the city started prioritizing projects that are within the city's revitalization zone.

Bethel's train station, the next stop after Danbury on the Metro-North connection, is within the walkable downtown. The town is aware of the transit-oriented possibilities.

Bridgeport received scores reflecting that it is ahead of most towns in enabling development within a half-mile walking distance of their stations. The city has adopted a variety of mechanisms to foster this, including reduced parking requirements per unit, and allowing a mix of uses and more units per acre.

Bridgeport's economic development director, David Kooris, said promoting transportation-oriented development requires looking at multiple factors.

"Density is not the most important thing," Kooris said. "Even if it is a two-story office building, it needs to be oriented toward the train station, and to achieve that you need a conversation about land-use mix and regulations governing parking."

This year, Bridgeport officials extended the transit-oriented development regulations in effect on the west side of the Pequonnock River near the Bridgeport train station to the east side of the river to allow mixed-use developments of up to 25 stories and reduced the number of parking spots per development.

Kooris said the more liberal zoning aims to attract new investment between the station and the Steel Point waterfront, a 50-acre peninsula where Bridgeport is hoping to catalyze millions of square feet of development.

Kooris said that in the past three years, Bridgeport has lowered the number of required parking spaces per unit on some development proposals as low as 0.5 spaces per unit, further reducing requirements by allowing developers to count parking in nearby private and public parking garages toward the required total.

"That was a very strategic decision by the elected bodies here, given the presence of high-quality transit first and foremost, and some large and public and privately owned parking resources, it was decided we could get by without saddling significant parking provisions on the private sector," Kooris said. "I can say with certainty that has been key to unlocking the potential of our historic building stock."

The study also cited the town of Fairfield's efforts to tie development of areas neighboring the Fairfield and Fairfield Metro stations to enable mixed use and residential of up to 17 units per acre near the Fairfield Metro-Station.

In Fairfield, Planning Director Joe Devonshuk said land-use officials began several years ago to study how they could revamp their zoning and parking policies to be more conducive to mixed use and denser residential use around the then-unfinished Fairfield Metro Center.

This included loosening parking requirements in instances where developers incorporated pedestrian and bicycle amenities meant to encourage non-motorized travel to and from the stations.

"There is some flexibility in the number of parking spaces per use based on traffic studies that indicate the need for on-site parking may be reduced," Devonshuk said.

In Stamford, the city has established an area near the Stamford train station called the Transportation Center Design District, where zoning and parking regulations are geared to take advantage of the station's heavy use, and allow developers to get permission to include fewer parking spaces per unit or square foot for new buildings, Norman Cole, Stamford's land-use bureau chief said.

The regulations also allow for less parking if it can be demonstrated that residential and office tenants can share a certain number of spaces. They also allow for additional building height for developments that include what's called "pedestrian-oriented frontage" -- retail shops, plazas and open spaces for public use at street level.

For example, the developers of the Metro-Green apartment complex that is behind the Stamford Transportation Center got approval to reduce the number of parking spaces required because there is retail space on the ground floor and public courtyards throughout the property. The city normally requires 1.25 parking spaces for studio and one-bedroom units, and 1.5 spaces for units with two or more bedrooms. The Metro-Green developers only had to provide 1.25 parking spaces for every housing unit, regardless of size.

Cole said the upcoming state-public private partnership between the Stamford-based JHM Group of Companies and the state to redevelop the area in and around the Stamford train station is also expected to pursue the same lower ratio of parking spaces per unit, while other proposed mixed use projects in the works downtown have already obtained it, including Trinity Park Square West, a 15-story 210 unit building between Washington Boulevard and West Park Place.

Cole said that the ability of developers to get financing for residential and office space projects with less parking illustrates a shift of perspective among project investors about how many spots are needed to ensure success.

"Developers and the financing community are keenly aware they can't rent or sell apartments or lease office space without enough parking," Cole said. "I'd say the attitudes of the finance industry have shifted and they've started to appreciate that offices can lease with less than what was previously considered the minimum amount of parking and residential units will be sold with less parking."

In Greenwich, which has four train stations, only Old Greenwich has regulations conducive to transit-friendly development. The Port Chester station, which serves the Byram section of Greenwich, is also set up well for it, the report said.

The town is studying shared parking and allowing greater residential development near the Greenwich train station, and could probably adopt lower parking requirements for new residential developments, the study said.

"Greenwich is a walkable community and it seems like it is a no-brainer to have shared parking, given you can reach multiple destinations on foot," Kennedy said. "I think the key to having shared parking is to have a mixture of uses which Greenwich has."

Diane Fox, director of planning and zoning for Greenwich said the town is planning to evaluate whether parking can be shared between residential, office and commercial uses in a study that will look at whether the town can increase the amount of housing downtown, allow mixed-use regulations, and focus on increasing the town's stock of affordable housing units.

To know for sure whether the town can cut back on parking requirements for new developments, Greenwich has to be able to predict accurately whether residents of new housing will drive their cars to work or not, which would open spaces up for daytime shoppers to occupy those spots, Fox said.

"If you don't have enough parking on-site, there ends up being a conflict with surrounding residents so you have to be a little careful," Fox said.

Not all towns need to embrace transportation-oriented development, however.

"For the communities that have not already embraced transit-oriented development they should give it future consideration in their future plans," the Regional Plan Association's Kennedy said.

Some stations such as Greens Farms in Westport, Talmadge Hill on the New Canaan branch and Riverside in Greenwich were assigned much lower scores than most stations, given their location within areas where there are single family homes on large lots and there is little desire to increase development or loosen regulations.

"There will always be locations where communities have decided that they aren't interested in further development, but for communities that want to be walkable and have downtown amenities, there needs to be a discussion of parking regulations and other rules," she said.